I say "Halloween pumpkins" and you say what? "Big spooky Jack o' Lanterns with candles inside!" Better idea: Make my easy pumpkin soup for a Trick or Treat-worthy supper! Topped with roasted pumpkin seeds, it's your quick lunch and dinner in a dash, throughout these Halloween season weeks. This is my first post for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I ...
Soups and Stews
Blackberry Roly Poly for #summerdessertweek
Sweet, ripe, and juicy blackberries say Summertime, and this old-time favorite recipe shows them off beautifully. Blackberry Roly Poly is fun to say, fun to make, and fun to share at any summertime celebration! This post and recipe were created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are ...
Farewell to A Chef’s Life
Tonight you can watch "A Chef's Life" Harvest Special, celebrating the Series Finale for this beloved PBS television show. Chef Vivian Howard welcomes us to her kitchen, restaurant (The Chef and the Farmer), and Eastern NC home to remember five fabulous seasons and toast the memories with friends and family. Airing 9:00 pm Monday 10/21 on ...
Deliciously Simple Chicken Soup
Lightning bugs, hydrangeas and gardenias, early sunrise, late sunset --- I do love this time of year. I am so grateful for this sweet pocket of late-late spring meandering into nearly-but-not-quite summer. Official summer commences next week, which may mean that you are grilling every meal and dining on salads, wraps and sandwiches for the ...
Slow-Cooker Red Curry Lentil Stew with Sweet Potatoes and Cauliflower
This slow cooker red curry lentil stew with sweet potatoes and cauliflower is winter dinner gold. Easy to put together on a winter night, it's enough to feed a crowd with plenty to freeze for later. So good you won't mind adding it to your weekly meal plan to enjoy on more than one evening. Lentils are lovely --- I enjoy them in every form, and ...
New England Clam Chowder
Soup season rolled on the early side this year, and I am here for it, happy cooking it, thinking about which one to make next, and savoring the batches we have on hand all winter long. Clam chowder is a longtime favorite for me, and this is the type I love the most. With National Soup Month still happening, and my interest captured by an online ...
Black Bean Soup : Easy, Tasty, and Pantry-Friendly
We knew snow was coming on Tuesday of this week, but the word was 1 to 3 inches here in my part of central North Carolina. Turned out to be much more than that --- ten to twelve inches around here, though it varied considerably from place to place. My friend Kathleen Purvis writes about food and cooking for the Charlotte Observer, and in her neck ...
Red Beans and Rice
When laundry was a weekly task done by hand, it took all day and then some, so the astute cooks of New Orleans tended to start a big pot of red beans cooking low and slow, so that a low-fuss feast woud be ready when it came time to eat. People still love red beans in New Orleans and environs, and enjoy this satisfying classic on other days and many ...
Curried Carrot Ginger Soup
January makes sense as holder of the National Soup Month designation --- even if we weren't shivering through an exceptionally cold January here in Piedmont North Carolina this year. Days are short, and the nights are long. Those shiny piles of crisp rainbow-colored produce are months away, and the urge to curl up with a good book or work that ...
Red Shrimp Curry over Instant Ramen
I love instant noodles, from their curlicue shape and economical price to their adaptability and quiet, time-insensitive presence on the pantry shelf. I like how the square stack unravels and swells up in boiling water, turning from serious square to tempting tangle of chewy goodness. The not-so-great part is the soup packet enclosed, which is ...